Happy Friday from Avalon and Brad, and welcome to another round-up of the week's news about the judicial bench. The Senate Judiciary Committee is returning next week for confirmation hearings, but the clock is ticking with midterms and a possible loss of the Senate just months away. We're also taking a look at the upcoming showdown at the D.C. Circuit over the Equal Rights Amendment. A panel of judges were just picked to hear the case, which seeks to enshrine the ERA as the 28th amendment of the Constitution. 

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Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, speaks with Ranking Member Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), left, during a judicial nominations hearing, on October 6, 2021. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, speaks with Ranking Member Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), left, during a judicial nominations hearing, on October 6, 2021. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Senate's Return Restarts Judicial Appointment Countdown

President Joe Biden is quick to brag about his successes in appointing 76 judges in his first 200-plus days in office, the most compared to any other POTUS by this point in their term. But he'll need to pick up the pace to fill as many of the remaining 75 district and circuit court vacancies, especially if Democrats lose their Senate majority after the midterm elections.

Filling all 75 might be too high a bar, said Thomas Berry, a research fellow at the CATO Institute, who the president will need to be strategic in the days leading up to the midterm elections if he wants to maximize the opportunity before him.